100 Tips for My Children

My children are very precious to me. Over 26 years of being a parent, I have made a huge effort to give my kids the rules of life that, in my belief, will set them up for a better life. Every parent wants to raise happy, healthy, successful, kind, smart, courageous, creative, friendly and wealthy children that have lots of love and happiness in their life.

I say that parenting is a sales job. If you sell your life philosophy to your kids well, you have great relationships with them and you know they will do well. If you are not a good sales person (even if your philosophy works well for you), you will face lots of conflict and frustration.

Years ago, I started writing a series called Things I want my kids to know. I think I want my kids to know everything I have written in this blog, but this series is a good summary. In this post, I would like to give my kids 100 tips from my bag of tips for a happy, healthy, successful and loving life.

I encourage you to make your own list of 100 pieces of advice you want to share with your kids, so that one day, when they ask themselves what you wanted for them, they will have it in writing.

Remember that giving advice is something you give from your own free will, with the full intention of doing good. It is your child’s choice whether to take your advice or not. We give! They need to choose to take. If they don’t take our advice, it may be because they are not in a good relationship with us and there is a distrust. It may be because they are not ready, you haven’t presented it well, you are not a good role model for what you suggest, or their life circumstances are different from yours and they can’t see how they can apply your advice to their life.

My suggestions:

1. Be true to the advice you give
2. Adapt your tips to your kids’ life circumstances
3. Present your suggestions with love and caring and don’t push. Give them with love and let your kids choose whether they want to apply them or not

Here is my list (I have thousands of tips, and it was hard for me to choose 100). You can adopt mine or come up with your own. Give your list with love to your children. I promise they will cherish your wisdom forever.

Top tips for my children about life with love

1. You are here in this world to make it a better place and all you have to do is BE.
2. You are a lot stronger than you think!
3. You are perfect, with all your flaws (and so am I and everyone else in the world)
4. Love yourself!
5. Life is made of aspirations. Dream big, keep dreaming and do not allow anyone to tell you that life is not about what you want. I brought you into this life to tell you it is all about what you want.
6. Be kind to others, because only kindness matters! Remember that kindness is contagious and when you are kind to others, they will be kind in return.
7. Be kind without expecting anything in return. This way, you are kind to yourself. You give yourself an opportunity to think highly of yourself.
8. Be kind to the environment. It is yours too.
9. Always look at the full half of the glass. Why? Because your life is how you see it.
10. Stay away from negative people. They will drain energy until you have none left.
11. When you climb the ladder of success, you can only do it if some others hold the ladder. Remember that every success requires supporters. Be friendly and grateful.
12. You are loved! If you have any doubts, read the posts in this series. They are my love letters to you.
13. When things do not go well, take a deep breath!
14. Be yourself! Everyone else is taken. Don’t aim to be a cheap imitation of anyone else.
15. Do not gossip about others. If you talk about others without their presence, only say good things!
16. Be a graceful winner and graceful loser.
17. Secrets are very heavy to carry, because they create fear (of exposure). Try living without secrets and find someone you trust to share your secrets. Although a secret shared is not yours anymore and is out of your control, once shared, you are free of the fear.
18. Don’t complain!
19. Always hug and kiss the people you love when you say goodbye, even if it is just for a short time.
20. 12 hugs a day will keep the doctor away! Hug plenty.
21. Do not be sarcastic! Sarcasm is violence in words.
22. Never, never give up!
23. We are what we think! Think happy thoughts!
24. Have good manners, be polite and always use “please” and “thank you”. They are the magic words.
25. Never burn bridges. When you leave a friendship, a job, a neighborhood or a relationship, leave on good terms, because you never know when you’ll need them again.
26. Being angry is against you, not anyone else. When you’re angry at someone, you’re in pain and they may not even know.
27. Smile! It is the best outfit. When meeting people for the first time, smile!
28. When you talk to someone on the phone, smile, because the other person can hear the smile in your voice.
29. Ask for help! It gives others an opportunity to be kind!
30. When someone offers help, accept it! If you don’t want it, say “thank you” anyway!
31. When family is not around, friends are the best family there is.
32. Be modest! The opposite of modesty is arrogance and people don’t like arrogant people.
33. Find an expression outlet. Art, craft, music, dance, sport – any of them will help you stay emotionally and physically healthy.
34. Sing, regardless of your ability.
35. Say “I love you” every day (here’s how to find 100 ways to say “I love you”)
36. The people you spend time with determine who you will become. Choose them wisely and re-evaluate your choice from time to time.
37. Hang around kind, responsible, inspiring and happy people.
38. Be proud of your achievements! Do not confuse boasting and pride. Boasting is when you need to compare yourself to others and put yourself above them. Pride is when you are rewarding yourself for your achievements with happiness.
39. Courage is not the lack of fear. It is being afraid and doing it anyway.
40. If there is a 10% chance of success, decide to be the within those 10%.
41. Don’t do things for the outcome. Do them for how they help you grow and for who you become after you’ve done them.
42. Compliment someone every day.
43. When invited as a guest for dinner or a party, always bring a plate or a gift.
44. People make mistakes. It is human. Forgive yourself and forgive others for mistakes.
45. Never say bad things about yourself.
46. Meditate.
47. For every tiny health problem, take vitamin C!
48. Miracles do happen! We don’t know everything about life and when good things happen and we can’t explain them, they are called “miracles”. Believe that good things can happen to you even if you can’t explain them and they will!
49. Listen more, talk less.
50. Say “happy birthday” to everyone you want to keep a good relationship with.
51. Count your blessings! Every day, ask yourself, “What am I grateful for today?”
52. Count your achievements. Every day, ask yourself, “What have I achieved today?”
53. Your mobile phone is your servant. Never let it be your master.
54. No one ever said life was fair. Do not expect it to be fair and you won’t be disappointed.
55. Collect books that summarize your life philosophy. Watching them in your bookshelf will be a great reminder of the things you want to cherish in life.
56. Never threat or bully others.
57. Print photos from time to time. Digital photos are just not the same.
58. Say a prayer every night. The last moments before sleep are the best time to adjust our subconscious mind to what we want in life.
59. When you start something, finish it!
60. First, do what you have to do, and then, do whatever you want.
61. Learn to cook! It will give you a lot more than just food.
62. Walk with purpose!
63. Fun is not a luxury! It is the best internal incentive. Try to have fun in everything you do.
64. Make a list of 100 things that make you happy and make yourself happy.
65. You are the only one who is responsible for your feelings. Don’t blame others when you feel bad. Do something about it.
66. Emotional intelligence is more important than IQ.
67. You always do the best you can with what you have. Live life with no regrets.
68. Wherever you are (school, job, trip), make the best of it and be the best you can be.
69. Don’t judge others!
70. Hope is your best way to survive bad times. It is true for you and for others. When people are in a bad place, give them hope.
71. Don’t say everything that is in your head. If you have anything good to say, say it. If not, just shut up!
72. If no one asked you, don’t give your opinion.
73. Feedback is not criticism and there is no such a thing as constructive criticism, so whenever you are asked to give a feedback, say what can be done to improve. That’s feedback and it is healthy and positive.
74. Anxiety and thinking about a negative future will not guarantee that the future will not be bad. Do not think that anxiety will prevent you from experiencing bad things. The opposite is more likely to happen.
75. Be assertive! Say what you need without putting anyone else down.
76. Live your own life and don’t let anyone else tell you how to live it.
77. Always study things you love. There is a limit to how much you can do to please mom and dad, and in the end, you will regret it.
78. Do silly things, but never make fun of others. If they don’t laugh with you, it wasn’t funny!
79. Dedicate time for sleep and relaxation! Stress makes people do, say and think stupid things that are not beneficial for them. Get rid of your stress.
80. Don’t take things for granted.
81. The only healthy attitude towards people is “I am OK, you are OK”.
82. Invite your friends over, make an effort to be a good host and make them feel welcome.
83. Your past is not your present or a prediction of your future. It is an experience that is long gone and you have the freedom to choose whether to make it a part of your life or not.
84. Accept compliments from others with love, grace and gratitude.
85. All your problems can be solved with determination, forgiveness, creativity and love.
86. You may not be able to control everything that happens to you in life, but you can always control how to respond to it.
87. It is OK to be different. Accept yourself.
88. Write love letters to people for no reason at all.
89. Always leave home with a water bottle.
90. Don’t believe everything you see in the media.
91. If you want to be like others and want gadgets like others or brand name clothes, you are trapped in social blackmail, which never stops. Stay true to yourself and your own taste.
92. The more love you give, the more love you have.
93. You can be anything you want.
94. You can change whenever you want.
95. If you fail, it does not make you a failure. Every successful person fails. Dust yourself off and keep going.
96. Your body is a temple. Cherish it. Don’t use any substance that will clutter your thinking: cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or self-medication.
97. You are a responsible for your health and wellbeing. Your body is whole and complete. It is the vehicle with which you experience the world. Take care of it every day. Love your body. It is a projection of you beliefs about yourself. Continually develop a happy, healthy and beautiful belief system.
98. Remember that doctors are your advisors, and in all matters concerning your body, you are the king.
99. Healthy food, lots of water, sleep and mediation are the main ingredients in my medicine box.
100. Happiness is a choice!

This is a short list for my kids. Please share some of yours in the comment box below.

Happy parenting,
Ronit

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